| Sense & Sensuality in New York, October 2006 |
|
The New York Public Library Showcases Sense & Sensuality an exhibition of Visual Art By and For Visually Impaired Sense & Sensuality on display from October 3, 2006 through October 30, 2006 at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library features an exhibit of award-winning artworks on loan from BlindArt (UK) The New York Public Library in collaboration with Art Education for the Blind (AEB) and BlindArt (UK) presents Sense & Sensuality, an exhibition of contemporary interactive art, by both sighted and visually impaired artists, encompasses paintings, sculpture & installations which challenge the notion that sight is essential for creating and enjoying exceptional art and breaks through traditional hierarchies in the arts by actively encouraging all works to be explored through touch. Sense & Sensuality is on display at the Library’s Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library located at 40 West 20th Street. The exhibition will be on view from October 3, 2006 through October 30, 2006 in celebration of the fourth annual Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month. Admission is free. Oil paintings, media sculptures, ceramics, and an audio installation are just a few of the varied means used to convey each artists’, distinct awareness of the world. The thirteen pieces of art comprise both works accessible to the blind and artwork produced by blind and visually impaired artists. Braille labels and large print labels, audio descriptions, and weekly afternoon workshops will complement the exhibition, on loan by kind permission of BlindArt, a public, not-for-profit organization in the United Kingdom – Registered Charity No. 1104980. Some of the artworks are from BlindArt’s permanent collection; others are available for purchase. The artists featured in the exhibition are Gary Sargeant, the foremost living blind artist and patron of BlindArt, Frances Aviva Blane, Michael Cahillane, Nicola Green, Linda Lieberman, Norman Long, Geoffrey Mann, Liz Munro & Nuala Watt, Maggie Rose, Keith Salmon, Ruth Spaak, Jon Williams, and Natasha Wymer. A series of free workshops in conjunction with the exhibit are offered to the public. The schedule is as follows: Wednesday, October 4 2.00 — 3.30pm Artist Talks: Gary Sargent and Linda Lieberman The two British artists, both of whom have work in this exhibition, will discuss their art and processes. Wednesday, October 11 2.00 — 3.30pm Found Objects in Contemporary Art Educators at the Nassau County Museum will lead this class exploring tactile textures in the exhibition. A hands-on workshop creating a tactile collage will follow. Wednesday, October 18 2.00 — 3.30pm Braille Rail and Design Objects Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) educators will guide this practicum exploring modern and contemporary design objects. Wednesday, October 25 2.00 — 3.30pm Real and Imaginary Art Educators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will lead an examination of Jon Williams’ Large Bowl of Strange Fruit, displayed in the exhibition, followed by a hands-on workshop in which participants will create their own bowls of “strange fruit.” All classes will be held in the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library. To register, please call (212) 206-5400 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it About the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, which opened in its present location in 1991, is a fully automated, architecturally barrier-free facility that offers reading materials in a variety of formats. In addition, it operates an extensive mailing program that each day delivers thousands of Braille and recorded books by postage-free mail to eligible patrons. A branch of The New York Public Library, it is named in honor of Andrew Heiskell, who served as chairman of The New York Public Library’s Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1990. It is also a regional library of the Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, providing print-impaired persons residing in New York City and Long Island. Through the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, the National Library Service (NLS) provides Braille and recorded collections, audio playback equipment, and free postage. All services provided by the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library are free of charge. For more information, please call (212) 206-5400 or visit www.talkingbooks.nypl.org About The New York Public Library The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers – the Humanities and Social Sciences Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library – and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The Library serves some 15 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 15 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, www.nypl.org About Art Education for the Blind and the annual Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month Art Education for the Blind (AEB), a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization, was founded in 1987 by Elisabeth Salzhauer Axel (now its Executive Director) to make art, art history, and visual culture accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. AEB provides and promotes the many important, tangible, skill-building, educational, psychosocial, and quality of life benefits of art education, museum visits, and art making for children and adults with sight loss – to give those who cannot see equal access to the world’s visual culture and the opportunity to experience the life-enhancing power of art. AEB creates the methods to make the worlds of art, art history, and visual information accessible to blind and visually impaired people. It develops the teaching techniques, special curricula, and accessibility programs used by museums and schools for their blind patrons and students. It publishes these accessible-art techniques in innovative print and multi-media educational publications designed for museum professionals, educators, and blind and visually impaired children and adults and their families. Headquartered in New York City, AEB carries out its work as the leader and facilitator of an international, multi-disciplinary collaborative of sighted and blind museum professionals, artists, educators, scientists, scholars, librarians, rehabilitation professionals, and blind and visually impaired advisors throughout the world. Each year, these individuals and their organizations celebrate Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month – an international initiative to bring attention to the need for and benefits of making art and visual culture accessible to people with vision loss. Special exhibits, such as Sense & Sensuality, and educational programs are offered by many of the participating organizations during Awareness Month. A calendar of special events is published on AEB’s Web site: www.artbeyondsight.org (click on “calendar” at the bottom of the home page). About BlindArt BlindArt is a charitable organization, based in the UK, which promotes artistic excellence regardless of visual-ability and breaks down artistic barriers by helping to dispel the notion that sight is essential to creating or enjoying exceptional art. BlindArt promotes artists, both sighted and visually impaired, to showcase their work through competitions, exhibitions, fairs, shows and private commissions. BlindArt’s inaugural project, Sense & Sensuality, was a nationwide open competition, which culminated in Sense & Sensuality exhibition in March 2005 at the Royal College of Art. The competition was open to all artists; blind, partially sighted and sighted, to create work specifically accessible to the visually impaired audience. This exhibition will be an annual event organized by BlindArt. This inaugural exhibition was the starting point in establishing the world’s first permanent collection of art created with an entirely new perspective, where vision plays an equal role to the other four senses in art appreciation. For more information, please visit http://www.blindart.net The Andrew Heiskell Library Braille & Talking Book Library is located on 40 West 20 th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The exhibit is open on Mondays from 10.00 am to 2.00pm; Thursdays from noon to 7.00 pm, Fridays from noon to 5.00 pm, and Saturdays from 1.00 to 5.00 p.m. Support for this exhibition has been provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and (OSI) Eyetech. Media Sponsor: CW11 WPIX-TV, a Tribune Broadcasting Station. Contact: Jennifer Lam 212.704.8600 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Please click here for press release. |
BlindArt Collection Donated to
Moorfields Eye Hospital
October 2012
Link to press release
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Banbury Museum
February - March 2011
Link to press release (word doc)
Link to press release (pdf)
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Hove Museum & Art Gallery
June - September 2010
Link to press release
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ RNC
June 2009
Link to press release
BlindArt @ ART LONDON Fair
2 - 6 October 2008
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
26 July – 4 October 2008
BlindArt Forum
Exciting new Feature
Link to press release
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ MOMA, Wales
March - April 2008
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Catmose Gallery
January - February 2007
BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Menier Gallery
May 2007
Sense & Sensuality @ Richard Attenborough Centre
December 2006 - January 2007
Sense & Sensuality Debuts in New York
October 2006
Winners of Sense & Sensuality 2006
Joint First Prize
Mauro Perucchetti
Nick Hornby
BlindArt Purchase Prize
Andrew Senior
Sense & Sensuality 2006
Bankside Gallery
14 September – 8 October 2006
Link to leaflet
BlindArt in New York
BlindArt @ Art Beyond Sight
October 2005
Education Projects
Sense2Sense Education Project
4Senses Education Project
BlindArt Needs Volunteers
to help us TOUCH ART.
Please email info@blindart.net for details.
• Sense & Sensuality 2005 catalogue
• Sense & Sensuality 2006 catalogue
• BlindArt Permanent Collection catalogue
• Postcards
• Tactile images
• BlindArt T-Shirts
available.
Support BlindArt
Please email info@blindart.net for details.
